Customers who buy Naked Heartland-and the vast majority will be either gay men, photographers, or sociologists-will experience both the pleasure of a formerly hidden slice of American History and the supreme disappointment of a, theoretically at least, "coffee-table" hardcover book whose quality is the worst I've ever seen. Bruce Bellas' studio work of the 50s and 60s is deservedly famous; it's arguable that the elegance and perfection of his images and prints equals those of any American photographer past or present. That he flourished in the tawdry, hidden world of so-called "physique photos" does not denigrate his achievement nor diminish the beauty of his work today. This book is from private collections of very early Bruce, before his studio was set up in L.A. The images are stunning, informal, and far more erotic than one would think-people really did have sex before the fig leaves fell in the mid-60s! However, this is a book from a publisher who apparently has never heard of graphic design, art direction, or typography. It is the ugliest book-for $50-that I have ever seen. The English text is filled with unbelievable typos, apparently introduced during production. A competent proofreader could have fixed this up in less than an hour. Worse, about 10% of the photos are filled with vertical stripes-artifacts that indicate either a dime-store scanner and/or complete incompetence in terms of production. The printing-barely adequate, with a single black ink, is subpar. And the type looks like Mac 1984 desktop publishing. It's absolutely awful. So, although I would rate the content 5 stars, I wouldn't even give the book itself-the product-a single star. Bruce of L.A. deserves much better-such as the earlier Bruno Gmünder collection-and the greatest tragedy is that this material fell into the hands of people who know nothing about art, or at least book design. (By the way, I was an art director for 30 years before retiring and have designed many books.) This hideous book is probably all we will ever get of this material, and more's the pity.

This collection of photographs are stunning, I had never heard of the photographer until I chanced on this wonderful collection. That they were taken in the 50's makes the erotica much more subtle but beautiful. I could spend hours staring at these amazing pictures.

I returned to my copy of Naked Heartland after reading the negative review here, perplexed. What I found was the same excellent book I remembered -- not just Bruce's extraordinary early photographs, but also the printing and design, are, as far as I'm concerned, splendid. There are some typos, but this hardly seems a grave (or unusual) problem in a photo book from a foreign publisher. The volume is clearly a labor of love, reclaiming and rescuing a lost world of homoerotic experience and images, as well as a thoroughly professional and serious undertaking. This is a gorgeous book that I can give the highest recommendation.

This book is a great murder mystery novel that leaves you guessing until the end, and provides plenty of clues for you to have several suspects at once. It also provides alot of interesting and even shocking information on life in the rennaissance, and the class and gender differences of the time. It is a really fun read and doesn't have a lot of blood or gore, but is still extremely suspenceful.

If you want a relaxing afternoon read, this one is for you. Put yourself in the hammock, or curl up in your favorite chair and transport yourself to Renaissance Italy.

I tell you, after a multitude of women as coroners, feisty private eyes, 24/7 career types, Giuditta, the sleuthing cook is refreshing. Emilia, daughter-in-law of the matriarch, Caterina, is murdered. Bella, the other daughter-in-law, who never got along with Emilia, is arrested for the murder. Giuditta vows to prove the innocence of Bella with whom she has a warm and respectful relationship.

It is more what is missing from this mystery novel that makes it appealing. There is no real blood and gore. Action without plot is missing. And we don't have to pine over the ups and downs of the intimate relationships of the heroine. Giuditta does develop an intimate relationship along the way with Angelo the artist, but it is a warm and easy going intimacy that adds to the story.

This mystery is different. Different in the immense attention to detail, and the use of superb prose to set the scenes. One is transported to the time and place. You feel the heat, dust and dirt in a palazzo. You sweat with Giduitta as she travels miles on foot to gather information. The characters are many and the Italian names a bit confusing. It reminds me a bit of P.D. James. You do have to work some brain cells on this one, and that too is a refreshing difference from many of the popular mysteries of today.

The author has woven a tale of mystery that gives pleasure, and a reassurance that there really are still mystery writers that can write above the 10th grade reading level.

While this book is short and to the point, it manages to put the reader right into its period. Especially rewarding are the descriptions of how a fresco is made, and of the food preparations. Be warned, you will become hungry.

Though I came to have supicions as the novel proceeded, I was not sure of the culprit until he was proven. In other words, without rambling around Robin Hood's barn, the author gave us readers the relevant information, yet withheld the resolution till the end. The (inedible) red herrings are there but do not distract us unduly. For a delightful trip into the Italian Renaissance, curl up in a sunny corner with "Bella Donna."

...I have always been disapointed in them. Yes, it's interesting to know "what happened" to Ross, Demelza et al. but I still feel, having read this and every sequel since "The Angry Tide", that Graham should have ended the series with "Angry Tide". This one, in general, is better than the prior 3 sequels (Stranger from the Sea, The Miller's Dance and I can't remember the other title). I think Valentine's story held my interest the most. But as for the rest of the plot(s)of this book, (I felt) why bother? And why have Bella have an affair with Maurice when he doesn't turn out to be a serious contender for her love?

No more Ross and worse, no more Demelza. No more feud with the Warleggans. Although Graham easily has material for a whole new generation of Poldarks, apparently this is the last one. Fortunately, there's a ton of Poldark books to go back and start reading again. I can't wait.

There's such a true sense of place in this series; Cornwall in the 17th/18th century is alive and so appealing. The characters are appealing, even as they appall, like Ross's enemy George Warleggan.

The PBS series was grand too, but the books are better. Such a diverting relief from too much war TV.

If you like the very different novels of Daphne du Maurier or, even more distinctly, the veterinary tales of James Herriot in Yorkshire, you'll find something to like here.

Five years ago I wrote the author, Winston Graham urging him continue the Poldark saga. Having read the books and watched the BBC Videos I fell in love with this series years ago. Mr. Graham responded to my letter that he was 80 years old and had always written his series three or four books at a time. this way he could have sub plots that revolved around the lives of his main characters Ross and Demelza. He further informed me that he doubted if he had enough remaining time to do another three books.

I was very pleased to see that he had enough energy and intellect to provide us with this final book. It is an excellent finish to a great saga. I highly recommend this book. Would anyone like to visit Cornwall? I would.

The good stuff first:

This book is wonderfully photographed, and has an absolutely superb array of antique and vintage garments that articulate better than words can the stunning, breathtaking, intricate inspiration of lace.

I'm not a lace expert, though I'm roughly familiar with types and terms. I was looking for a book to give me a solid foothold into the world of lace: How is each particular type made? What are the distinguising characteristics of each? How do I distinguish machine-made lace from handmade? I'm still looking for my dream book that addresses all I just mentioned, but this book is a good start.

It's a better reference book for those who have a bit more than a beginner's knowledge of lace (because of the lack of side-by-side comparisons; lack of illustrations right next to descriptions of types of lace). However, for beginners, it's still a really fantastic feast for the eyes, just the volume to get one excited about lace.

I already loved lace, but this enhance my appreciation more. Really, enough good things cannot be said about the photography. Truly excellent, with lots and lots and lots of color.

The bad stuff:

The author is in some way affiliated with the museum that supplied most of the antique and vintage garments and examples of lace (she is the curator, I believe). This was an absolute bonus to the book as there are truly some great examples of clothing shown.

However, somehow the power of the curator has swept aside the power of the editor (or publisher), and as a result this book is +filled+ with silly and absolutely non-useful photographs of the author's doll fashion handiwork (which involves, of course, lace).

By no means is this just a couple of pictures. Full color after full color, full page after full page (some even in double-page spreads) the reader is forced to endure what may not be in actuality, but what comes across a bit as the author's artistic vanity.

Small mannequins in the form of Barbie dolls litter and disrupt this book, clad in period-style apparel composed in whole or in part by vintage and modern laces. The sheers number of these doll photographs disrupt the focus of the book. They add nothing to one's knowledge of lace and add little to one's appreciation of lace (the dolls are small and are too minute to model the lace if the intent is to see the lace better by putting it on a doll). It's just a Barbie doll fashion show.

Now, there are many that might delight in this type of thing, in its own place (i.e., its own book: "Vintage Fashions as Modelled by Barbie"). I think even one or two of these photographs would not have detracted from this book. But there are +so many+ of these full-page Barbie photographs that I feel readers are cheated out of information that might have been in its place.

I didn't want this book because I had an interest in the author's doll fashion-crafting hobby, nor am I interested in her design skills as pertain to human-sized fashion (there are some of these photographs as well). This book was supposed to be about the history and pricing of lace, not some ego trip for the author. These dolls belong in another book (which probably would be a fantastic book on its own).

It's like getting squash when you ordered pasta. Some won't mind this inclusion, but a lot of folks will probably feel cheated.

Overall, I recommend this book, but every reader +deserves+ a heads up about this bizarre, misplaced doll parade.

I first found this book at my local bookstore and just glanced at it. A few months later it was still there so I decided to take a longer look. I am not sure why it remained in the store so long! This book is full of pictures of antique laces and original antique garments. Most of the garments are from the collection of the museum the author works for but some are from private collections.

Each chapter covers a different type of lace. From Brussels Lace to Chantilly, you will find detailed historical remarks as well as pictures of antique fashions, historical catalog pages and fashion plates.

If your recreation specialty is fashions of the 1900s to the early 1930s, you will regret not even glancing at this book. It is full of fashion ideas and ways to use modern laces to recreate historical fashions. My only regret was they put historical garments on models who obviously weren't wearing period undergarments.

This title is definitely worth the price tag and is not just another fashion coffee table book.

this book was okay but not that great. than again i don't like these types of books. Read it, actually read every thing! you can probaly guess what's its about by the title so i won't tell you and ruin it.

My Great Grandmother wrote this book. When she wrote it, she was already old, had witnessed the births and deaths of many loved ones. English is not her second language. It is her 7th. To write such a book was an enormous accomplishment. See, you have to understand my grandmother. She was a story teller. I get my storytelling abilities from her. She spoke with a flavor of Yiddish in all her words, and she was the real thing, from the Old Country, all that. She had a sadness in her eyes that I couldn't get near. I was only seven when she died, but I remember her so well. Her fragile hands, painting the stories she told in wide brushstrokes across the room. Her love, coming through in her aging voice. This book is not just a story. It is MY story. It is HER story. It is, somehow, the story of us all, of humanity really. It is about strength, and courage. It is about letting go of the things you love so that the people you love can start over, unburdened. Read this book and imagine it being told to you, being spun in the air.

In this book, Kae Jude continues her move op the ladder in the US Marshall's Preternatural investigation team by being promoted to Deputy Director and moved to Washington. She has a few loose ends to tie up in Spring Lake, her husband's family and her house. Latour is trying to become part of her life, but she has no time for the Vampire. Then her Congressperson friend Margarita is found dead, an apparent suicide, quickly followed by her husband. This leaves Kae in charge of their daughter Reese, since noone but the headmistress of her school seems to want her. The grandparents give her to the headmistress pending a background check. Kae has about all the complications she needs but their are more to come.

This was an enjoyable book, but it seemed hurriedly written and could have been longer or more detailed. Well worth reading, but alot of loose ends for the next book.

if you can find it, pick it up

i found this pocket book in a used book store

offers an interesting view of the tao in a different style

good food for thought

eric

I love Jilly Cooper's funny language and admire her storytelling ability. This volume contains two love stories. I gave it four stars, all o which mainly go to Emily. It's a story about a London girl who falls fast for a dashing but difficult artist, marries him and moves to Scotland. In Scotland married life turns out to be less than pleasant slightly "gothic", as Emily starts to wonder about her husband's motives. Cooper's writing is full of puns and really enjoyable.

Bella was okay as a story, and the writing is funny as well, but I don't like its naive heroine.

A beautifully produced small book with more than 100 color photos of fountain pens from the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy. Included are pens designed by Waterman, Parker, Montblanc, Shaeffer, Omas, Ancora, and Pelikan.

While the short history of fountain pens and pen manufacturer histories are in English, the photo captions are in both English and Italian. The history of fountain pens and the artisans who developed them is drawn with a broad stroke from Egyptian history to the 1950s, including the 1884 patent by Waterman for the first truly workable ink feed fountain pen, the fountain pen's heyday in the 1920s, and its resurgence over the past few years.

A brief history of several pen manufacturers concludes the book, and includes a look at United States makers Waterman, Parker, Shaeffer, Wahl-Eversharp, and Conklin; German manufacturers Montblanc and Pelikan; English-United States maker Mabie Todd; English designer Conway Stewart; and the Italian firms of Aurora, Omas, Ancora, and Columbus.

A nice reference book and eye candy for the collector and an inexpensive introductory text for those looking at beginning collecting. Nothing in the book talks about how to collect and the like. This is just a pretty book with photos of some exquisitely made fountain pens.

If you order this book, you'll probably come away with the impression I did: these other reviewers are friendly with the author. There is nary a word of English instruction in this book, and it is almost impossible, to my eyes, for the beginning student of Hebrew or the novice to use it without formal instruction. This is a classroom textbook and a not a guide for for self-starters or at-home learners, so far as I can see.

This was my textbook in Israeli middle school. It's a good, complete book, but it's very hard to get through without a teacher or translator to make sure you understand the assignments and instructions.

This is a primer and it's OK as primers go. I think it takes a long time going about its goal: to teach the Alef Bet and vowels. I like Learn Hebrew Today and another primer just as well.